2004-2-13
This is Steve Ember with In the News, in VOA Special English.
Iranians this week observed the twenty-fifth anniversary of their
Islamic Revolution. Many thousands of people gathered Wednesday in
Azadi Square in Tehran.
President Mohammed Khatami praised the nineteen-seventy-nine
revolution. However, he warned Islamic conservatives not to dismiss
the wishes of the people, especially younger Iranians. He said doing
so could turn people against the values of the Islamic republic and
even Islam.
In a speech broadcast nationally, Mister Khatami told the crowds
that he will continue to seek political reforms. He said elections
for parliament will be held next Friday as planned. President
Khatami says the elections will be unfair but his party will
compete.
Last month, the Guardian Council in Iran barred more than
three-thousand pro-reform candidates from competing in the
elections. The move created a political crisis. Many reformist
members of parliament resigned. The Guardian Council later agreed to
accept about one-thousand reformist candidates. But the reformers
said that was not enough.
Candidates for seats in the Iranian parliament officially began
to campaign on Thursday. But many reformers say they will boycott
the elections next week. Some Iranians say they fear a boycott would
return control of parliament to conservatives.
President Khatami is Iran's leading reformist. He was elected and
re-elected by a seventy-percent majority. But his government has not
been able to carry out the reforms that it has promised.
Popular support for reforms has been growing in recent years.
Conservative Islamic leaders, however, still have most of the
control.
The Islamic Revolution ousted Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in
nineteen-seventy-nine. It brought an Islamic government to power led
by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He had been in exile in Iraq.
Reformists gained control of the Iranian parliament in the
elections in two-thousand. But the conservative Islamic leaders have
been accused of using their power to block attempts to reform the
political system and to ease social laws.
The Islamic leaders in Iran have more power than elected
officials. The twelve members of the Guardian Council, for example,
are appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.
They have the power to block legislation passed by parliament if
they believe it does not support Islamic values. The council also
has the power to block people from seeking high public office.
In his speech Wednesday, President Khatami criticized those who
he said "oppose freedom and democracy in the name of religion." He
urged Iranians to avoid the path either of the West or of extremism.
He said he will continue along what he calls a "third way," even if
he faces strong resistance.
In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk.
This is Steve Ember.